Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1887-08-12
THE CITIZEN.
MISCELLANEOUS.
Fowls in Confinement.
From the American Agriculturist.

From the American Agriculturist.
When hens seem dropping, give a
pill made of sulphur, lard and black
pepper till they are better. Keep a
horseshoe or few rusty nails in the
water, or boil white oak bark and
cherry-tree bark together. Make a
syrup, and when it is cold, give it in
the drinking water twice week as
a tonic.
Take ground mustard, one table
spoonful, to two quarts of corn meal.
and enough sour milk to mix well.
In case of sick fowls feed this three
times a week; as preventive,
twice a month. 1t is grand tonic,
and should be used occasionally
through the summer season.
Beware of overfeeding. 1t is Ca
riety of feed and she'll producing ar
ticles that bring the best results.
Experience will teach how to regu-
late the quantity.
Pound up broken crockery and
glassware in pieces the size of small
peas and put in the gravel box.
The fowls will select the hard fints
with sharp edges to grind in their
mill"
Clean off all the runs in poultry
yards as we'll as the houses. Don't
allow fowls on the same ground for
months or years without stirring it
up. Sweep off or spade under the
litter that accumulates. If the in
closure is small, spade up portion
each day If large, plow up the yard
frequently, SO that the birds can have
exercise in hunting in the fresh
earth for worms.
1t is said hen will consume a
bushel of corn a year. We would be
generous and allow Eve pecks of
grain per head when they are con-
fined 10 the hen yard. 1t requires
more feed to keep some breeds than
others. The Plymouth Rocks are
small eaters and industrious foragers,
and so can be kept with 20 per cent.
less expense than some others. Sun
flower seed, fed in small quantities,
imparts a beautiful gloss to the
plumage. Whether with old or
young fowls, give them freedom,
cleanliness, proper and sufficient food
during the year, and change of male
birds every spring
Always provide dust box. The
best article for the use of fowls is
road dust. Gather barrel full in
summer, cover it close and keep for
winter use. Or use finely sifted
hard coal ashes with a tablespoonful
of sulphur added. If litter is want
ed for the fowls scratching place in
winter, gather the fallen forest leaves
and store them away in dry place.
When needed throw O good supply
into the hen houses. Scatter broad
cast one feed of grain Gin the even
ing) among them and let hens work
for their supper.
Renew the leaves every week or
two, or alternate with straw.
Either will be good for the birds
Then it can be removed to the COM
post heap or scattered about your
small fruits and grapeyines. In
these last suggestions there is plenty
for the children to do. Let them
gather road dust, leaves, etc, in the
season, doing something each day to
provide for the comfort of the fowls.
They will love the work and take an
interest in the business. 1t will
give them needed exercise and pleas
ure.
PERCHES IN THE POULTRY HOUSE.
Have the perches made wide
enough to allow the chickens to cover
tteir feet entirely with their feathers,
and prevent freezing in the coolest
nights A foot or two below the
perches have scaffold of boards to
fit closely, and sprinkle with plaster
or dry earth from time to time,
which, with the droppings of the
hens, can be swept up and put in
barrels for corn land. Below these
platforms, boxes or nail kegs can be
arranged for nests. Never have
roosts over three feet from the
ground. Even then have stepping
box or block at one end, 80 that
heavy hens can get up easily and
avoid injury to themselves Have
all the perches on q level, for if they
slant the hens will crowd for the
hie hest place.